New Toy...

W went to the store tonight and came home with this:
Charlie LOVED it!!

He went from one end

to the other...

and then got tired!!
But he loved it so much!! Silly boy!

One year ago..

This was me...

all drugged up on magnesium trying to stop the contractions that were trying to push my 27 week gestation baby out..ok maybe that was a little dramatic! :) But seriously, yes I was contracting and yes they were having a hard time stopping them. AND I was two centimeters dialated.

Oddly at the time, I wasn't as scared as I probably should have been. I look back at that time and realize I was in complete denial that anything bad could possibly happen. In fact I can tell you what I was thinking: When I first went to the hospital "I'm dehydrated, they are going to give me fluids and then send me home" and then two days later..."I just want to go home". Fortunatley I did go home on the third day, but it was on bed rest. Only to be sent back two weeks later.

So what about that day? Well I started in one hospital, was immediately transferred to another when they discoverd I was 2 cm and then gave me morphine at midnight that finally knocked out the contractions. I could feel the contractions, but they weren't painful until midnight, hence the morphine. A cervical measurement before I was discharged was 2.6cm when I was discharged...they like it to be 3-5cm.

I sometimes go back and read what I wrote while I was hospitalized (I started the blog during the second stay) and still have very raw emotions when I realize the extent of the danger my son was in, yet at the time I just wanted to go home...it honestly makes me feel sooo very selfish that I did not comprehend the gravity of the situation...

But now, I have this:

How lucky am I?!?!

Crawling

Here is a video W took of Charlie crawling all over the house:

Yep, we are chasing him all over all day long!!

Check out that face...

after taking a bit of Daddy's Granny Smith Apple! HA HA HA!!

Charlie is getting SO big!! He turned ten months old yesterday...I can hardly beleive he will be a year old in two short little months! Where has the last year gone?!?

Here is what he is up to lately:

Reading his books....

Holding his own bottle...

Playing and general mischief:

Trying to climb on things..Daddy is his favorite thing to climb on and over:

Cuddling with his blanket: (we often find him in weird positions with his blankie...and no he didn't suffocate, he is still alive and well!)

After a week of amoxicillin, his ear and croup have gone away...hopefully for good. The amoxicillin did cause some GI issues with him and the poor thing ended up with a raw bottom. Thankfully that has cleared up as well. He is back to eating all four of 8 ounce bottles everydya..AND lots of baby food! Fruits and all! I was in shock when W called me one day at work and said he ate three tubs (3.5oz) of food in one sitting...and one of them was fruit! So far he has benn doing this every day (and still eating dinner too!). I hope he keeps it up. He is doing better with chewing and chunky foods too...no gagging anymore! He does like to suck on things for awhile though, especially if I give him a bite of my food while he is playing.

Our newest 'issue', which really isn't a big issue, is bedtime. I worked late a lot of nights over the last two weeks and left Daddy on duty for bedtime (its usually my job) and he didn't always put Charlie to bed at 8 (which is his normal bed time). He would let him play until he was 'ready' which was sometimes 9. Uh, not ok! So now I have to 're-train' him to go to bed at 8. tonight went ok..he actually went to bed early due to lack of an afternoon nap. But last night was awful. I thought I had him down but then W and I made noise and then he was up again...and cried in my arms for 30 minutes!! I am not sure who it was worse for, me or him...

He is doing everything else a normal 10-month old should be doing..babbling, crawling, pulling up...We are still working on using a sippy cup (he has the concept down, but chews instead of sucks it), mimicking my movements (clapping, pointing, waving, sign language) and someother minor things I can't think of right now....I am not worried at all about these as I know they will come. He loves to crawl on the couch, loves his bath, loves cheerios, and LOVES his daddy!!

How far we have come...

Sick baby!

Update: After talking to W again, Charlie also has croup. poor baby! There isn't anythign we can do for the croup..just let it run its course. It takes anywhere from 3 to 7 dyas to work its way through so we've got up to 4 days left of it. Ugh!

Original Post:
Charlie has a had what I thought was a cold for the last 4 or so days...then last night his congested cough turned into a dry cough and he coughed till he puked, 3 times! Also he hasn't been eating his bottles or food too good. So....

I called the Dr this AM just to be safe. W took him in and the diagnosis is an ear infection! I expected just a cold diagnosis and let it run its course... Never thought he had an ear infection. He did grab at his ear, but he's been doing that. And he didn't have a fever.

So he gets his second round of antibiotics in his short little life and hopefully he will be feeling better quickly!

Photo Update

At long last here are some recent pics of the little man!

Isn't he just so stinking cute!?!? I LOVE this little boy!

He discovered this new toy in our house:

W and I after exchanging our vows..on of the only pics we got of us together.

Getting excited to open presents:

This was our Christmas card pic:

Being oh so naughty and crawling behind the couch:

Nana made him another blanket..this one has his name on it!

I have also been working diligently on his baby book..I have just about every month through seven months started. My goal is to have it completed by his first birthday

ooops...

Wow..Do I have some updating to do!! Every day this month I thought to myself that I needed to update the blog..but I never had the energy! It's been a busy busy month! So here is the recap of December:
-Charles started getting into a sitting position from laying right after Thanksgiving. And from there (the very same day it seemed!) he started pulling himself up on our furniture! He now pulls himself up on EVERYTHING and is also cruising around the couch.

-He has also refined his crawling technique! He went from army crawling to alternating between the inch worm and actual crawling. He can do a real crawl, but seems to get lazy and then reverts back to the inch worm. Its actually really cute!

-W and I got MARRIED this month too!! It was nice weekend for us..we went to the good ol' courthouse and said our 'I do's' with a few friends and family, went out to dinner that night, and then had nearly all of our friends and family over for a celebration the next day! Sadly..we didn't get too many pictures. W and I were both so busy with our guests that we hardly spent anytime together during the celebration..which makes me really glad that we had our day the day before!
-Charlie turned 9 months old this month too! He weighed in at 22lbs and was 29in long at his checkup. Dr says he is doing great and meeting all the milestones he should as 9 month old! Preemie status...What preemie status?!!?

-Charlie had his very first Christmas last week! I can't say he enjoyed it any more than any other day...He is still too young to know the difference, but I enjoyed trying to make him excited. He did love his toys and has already injured himself a few times! Silly boy!

-Yesterday while I was playing with him, I noticed he has two more teeth!! He doesn't seem to be a bad teether...thankfully! He gets a little crabby here and there, but overall nothing terrible. He still sleeps through the night and goes to bed awake without a fuss.

-Oh and that whole eating thing?? Much improved!! He is eating baby foods again! woo-hoo! Although, if it is not a sweet potato or squash based food, he still fights with us. He still loves his cheerios, puffs and yogurt melts. I gave him townhouse crackers and a piece of cheese at a birthday party yesterday and he chomped on those too! He Loved it! We keep trying new things though. I also have been trying to give him the 3rd foods jars.. he is not as much a fan of those though because of the chunks. He still gags a bit, but the only way he will get used to it is to keep trying so I give it to him anyway!

So I think that is the jist of the month of December...Sorry there aren't any pics with this post (I am at work!) . I will try to do a photo update this weekend when I have another four days off!!